How Aaron Boone interviewed his way into becoming next Yankees manager

From the get-go, Aaron Boone made it clear he was serious about wanting to manage; that this wasn’t just whimsy on his part. (Rob Latour/Invision/AP)

In the end, whether it was by design or not, Brian Cashman's choice for the next manager of the Yankees had come down to two huge risks — Aaron Boone, who had absolutely no experience as a manager or coach, or Hensley Meulens, whose only managerial experience had been as a largely ceremonial skipper of the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.

I don't know what the difference maker turned out to be but I strongly suspect it was Boone's winning personality, media savvy and familiarity with the New York media in his capacity as former Yankee hero with his walk-off 11th inning homer against the Red Sox in the final game of the 2003 ALCS and frequent press box co-habitant as an analyst for ESPN. All of which gave Cashman a comfort zone when things get hairy — as they always do — next season. Not that "Bam Bam" Meulens doesn't have the same kind of communications skills — the Giants' players and the San Francisco media who have gotten to know him intimately over the last eight years as the hitting coach out there, all love him — but he's a relative unknown in New York, his Yankee ties having been cut almost a quarter-century ago.

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From the get-go, Boone made it clear he was serious about wanting to manage; that this wasn't just whimsy on his part, and once given his audience with Cashman and his baseball people, did a bang-up job of selling himself.

After practicing his repelling from the Landmark Building in Stamford, Conn., for the annual Lights and Heights Christmas event Sunday, Cashman said Friday he had closed the doors on further interviews and was ready to make his recommendation to Yankees general partner Hal Steinbrenner from among Boone, Meulens, Carlos Beltran, Eric Wedge, Rob Thomson or Chris Woodward for the successor to Joe Girardi. In truth, he had already made up his mind it was Boone and once word leaked out of San Francisco early Friday night that Meulens was staying with the Giants, it was pretty much official.

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Based on sourced information from how all the interviews went down, Boone, Meulens and Beltran all made the strongest impressions on Cashman and his team of close advisors that included VP of Baseball Operations Tim Naehring, assistant GM Mike Fishman, and Senior VP Jean Afterman. Just the same, you had to immediately eliminate Beltran, if only because there was no way Cashman was going to take THAT big of a risk, turning the managerial reins over to someone fresh out of the player ranks. Of course, no one knows either if Boone or Meulens have any idea of how to handle a pitching staff, which is why, in retrospect, Cashman made sure to retain the services of Larry Rothschild, recognized as one of the best pitching coaches in the business.

Hensley Meulens (left) and Aaron Boone (right), as well as Carlos Beltran, both had very strong interviews, according to sources. (AP)

Rothschild is going to be Boone's most valuable asset.

Communication was obviously the operative word in this process as, other than Wedge, nobody knew whether any of these guys can really manage.

That said, here's how the evaluations went:

Boone — Checked the three most important boxes with Cashman: A willingness to embrace analytics, communication skills with the players, and experience with handling the New York media. All of that made him an instant popular choice, but it didn't hurt that he also came from a three generational major league family, in which his father, Bob, managed the Royals and the Reds. Cashman fancies himself as an "out-of-the-box" thinker and this was the ultimate bold "out-of-the-box" choice.

Carlos Beltran (Justin Heiman/Getty Images)

Meulens — In many ways the native of Curacao, too, would have been an out-of-the box choice in that he was only just named a bench coach by the Giants after serving as their hitting coach for eight years. But he checked a lot of other boxes for Cashman, having come up in baseball through the Yankee system, being fluent in five languages, was hailed for his communication skills by the Giants' players, and has a close relationship with Yankee shortstop Didi Gregorius from the WBC. I'm told that Giants' president of baseball operations Brian Sabean, who promoted Meulens to bench coach, presumably for the purpose of grooming him to eventually replace Bruce Bochy, gave him the highest recommendation.

Beltran — Impressed Cashman and his staff with the sheer force of his personality and knowledge of the game. If he hadn't just retired and had spent perhaps just one year as a coach or minor league manager, he might have been the favorite. As it is, he will be with the Yankees in some capacity next year, either as a bench or hitting coach for Boone or a special assistant to Cashman. Whatever he wants to do.

Eric Wedge — The only candidate with major league managing experience, Cashman only interviewed him because other GMs, former and present, gave him high grades. But there was no way Cashman was going to go to Steinbrenner with a recommendation of a manager who had failed in two other places, Seattle and Cleveland, with seven losing seasons in 10 years. In addition, his bland personality would have never gone over in New York.

Rob Thomson — He was only in the process out of loyalty to the Yankee organization — 28 years in various capacities, most importantly spring training coordinator the past few seasons. Ordinarily going from bench coach to manager would have been a natural ascension. The fact that it wasn't — and Thomson was again thrown into the mix of candidates — told you he was never a serious candidate for the job. He now leaves the Yankees to go to the Phillies as their bench coach.

Chris Woodward — It's not quite clear as to why the Dodger third base coach was one of the candidates other than perhaps Cashman wanted to talk to someone who was part of Dave Roberts' staff in Los Angeles. Early on, he had talked about wanting a "Dave Roberts-type," someone who was into the analytics and had good communication skills, especially with young players. Whatever, it doesn't appear as if Woodward, the former light-hitting utility infielder who spent a couple of seasons with the Mets and had never before interviewed for a manager's job, knocked anyone's socks off.